Distributor spike



April 22, 1930. GADDls 1,755,251

DISTRIBUTOR SPIKE File d Feb.,-25, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l Inventor A ttorney April 22, 1930.

P. G. GADDIS DISTRIBUTOR SPIKE Filed Feb. 25, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q mi Attorney Patented Apr,

iirsrmnu'ron -srzxn Application,filfllEebruary23, 'Serial-No, 342 042 i This invention-1 re aa w,aa-imprevea dis;

I ing an obstruction or should a portion of the tributor spike,"and'inore espjecially for adis':

' tributor spike =forfuse on a distributor belt a ;cottongin'.'

Ta primaryobjectoiiithis invention=.'i s-to provide a distributor "spike to: be fastened to' the distributor belt of a cotton' gni','f'wh1ch spike 'is' to befo'rmed offa resilient material, 1

the spike beingof suficient stiifness to handle all loads of cotton without bending,.vbut possessed of enough spring, so that upon meetdistributor become choked, instead of breaking loose from the belt,the spikewouldbend back and pass this obstruction without injury either to the spike or to the belt.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a spike of the character described,

which ,canlbe manufactured at a relatively low cost, capable of easy attachment to the. belt, strong, durable, and otherwise well 7 vadapted for the purpose designed.

Further objects and advantages of the invention willbecome re'adily'apparent from a study of the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein, v V r Figure 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view a cotton gin, showing the distributor belt provided with my. improved distributor spike. e V 1 Figure 2 is a side'elevation' of my improved spike, and i Figure 3 isa front elevation of the same. V V V a I spike is cfL-shaped formation and is preferably made of tempered f spring'jfste'el 1 with the v springinthe upper poi-tion o-f the spike; The

Figure 4 is a transverse horizontal section.- al view taken substantially on the line 45-4 of Figure 3. a

' Figure 5 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the belt for fully illustrating the man ner of securing the distributor spike thereto. With reference to the drawings, attention is first invited to Figure 1, wherein is'shown the distributor of a cotton gin, which is designated generally as'at 5, disposed over a battery of Igin stands 6, in the. conventionalv manner; The distributor 5 consists preferably of a wooden or metal trough, through which the distributor belt "Z'runs, "the belt being endless and in the particular instance,

the belt travels fromthe'ri ght to the left. It

then droppedvonto thejdistribi tortroughi, a

malleable iron; Gonseqiienflyfshcul they belt-and breakth'e rabfic unu fi have provided 'fanjlm' oved spil shown-to-advantage in Figure 2 of the portion nearest the belt? 3 the upper Portion "w i eeynofilgh t will benotedon the'l'eft end ofthifsfdiistribi l- .7 n

tor,flther;e is an oval or bell haped endfwhi'ch allowsthe spike and the'cotton'totrave'lfrom the top s ection'of the" distributor tdtheTbot j tom section. 'An' opening '8 -is formed in the bottom of the distributor directly over each v p "inop'eration, the cotton sucked up fromfthe wagon or cotton house (apt showny-firom he tion pipe into the clje'aneri) ,1 where tl rand cotton arefs parated and the seed mac" forcedby the openings, 8, suifii'ent "aindunt drops, down tojo erateeachgia standfl y I '-As"the-belttravelsinan endless" o nd i dis i t th pi es 'a p; ith p fi nefth id rib tor andfas -th'ey*"ltravel @IOllllld'fil'ld' 'f gin stands, fthe' spikes arefstickiiig down, The s ikesnow generally in use"are n' de o'i'" meet an obstruction and the beltfis tight t has a tendency toy'pulrthegriv tethrcug spike is-pulledout; "The tern-hem the belt travels "down with" the cotton and" gets into the gin saws which isa veryls'erious' ie t onv ,c 1: r

To overeo' e 'thisiobjec i na i a u e; I

draw

AS 'sh'o'wn in Figures 2am ay-sawed the spike ma -becrimped pi c' ncaved as at 14, so that the zpoi ntof flexibility will bef'in the upp r end of the vertical ,portio'n'or that The purpose of s am n tlre'sfpikefistliat I ha dle all loadsof cotto shonld a portion we the" distributor radii-161 1 0! the 75 choked, the spike, instead of breaking loose from the belt, would have enough spring adjacent the curved portion 12 to allow the upper portion to bend back and pass the obstruction without pulling the rivets through the belt. 7 7 To fasten the spike 10 to the belt 7 a pair of spaced openings 15 are formed in the flat portion of the spike, which flat portion is placed on the upper surface of the belt, while a clamping plate 17, provided with a pair of openings 17 is disposed on the upper surface of the belt with the openings 17 in alignment with the openings 15. The spikes and plate 17 then being securely fastened to the belt by means of the rivet18.

It is yet to be mentioned that the end 16 of the spike 10 rests flatly on the belt as shown in FigureQ of the drawings, and the ends 19 of the plate 17 also resting on the adjacent surface of the belt. I

From the above detailed description, it will be seen that I have provided an exceedingly simple, springy yet sturdy spike for useon the distributor belt of a cottongin. Of course, this spike may be used on numerous other distributor belts for different purposes as will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art.

said belt and having openings formed thereon, said vertical portion being concaved adjacent its topmost edge, and relatively flat adj acent the opposite end, a plate having openings formed thereon disposed upon the under surface of the belt with the openings in alignment with said first mentioned. openings, and rivets passing through the aligned openings for securing said spike and plate to the belt.

3. A device of the character described, in combination, a' distributor belt for use in a cotton gin, an L-shaped spike formed of tempered spring v steel or like flexible material and having a relatively short flat portion for attachment to the belt, and a relatively longer spikeportion for contact withthe articles or materials carried by the belt, and having openings formed in said flat portion, rivets passing through said openings for. attaching the spike to thebelt, a clamping plate on the opposite surface of thebelt through which said rivets protrude.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

': PRESTON G. GADDIS.

I It is thought that the present embodiment a of the invention will now be more clearly understood without a detailed description thereof.

This embodiment has been disclosed merely by way of example, since in actual practice it attains .the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the invention and the above description. It will be I apparent that changes in the details of con-' struction and in the combinationand arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention as hereinafter claimed, or sacrificing any of its advantages.

I claim:

1. A device of the character described, in

combination, a distributor belt for use in a cotton gin, provided with a plurality of resil ient distributor spikes extending at right angles thereto, each of said spikes being formed of flexible spring steel and Provided with a substantially fiat portion for attachment to the belt, said fiat portion terminating" at one end to provide a gradual curve terminatingin a vertical portion, said ver tical portion being crimped at its upper edge to provide a relatively flat section intermediate saidc'urve and one end of the crimp.

2. A device of the character described,- in combination, a distributor belt foruse in a cotton gin, a distributor spike for the belt, said spike being formed of a single piece of tempered steel or like material bent inter mediate its ends to provide a substantially flat portion, and; a relatively long vertical portion, said flat portion adapted to rest upon 

